Aurora

Change of Heart

This time, there's no long-winded author's note or cover art. Enjoy!

One week after mine, Brook has her evolution ceremony. I arrive a little before the party and greet her, squealing, in front of her cave.

Brook is beautiful as a Vaporeon. She still has her easy smile and eyes wrinkled from constant laughter, but now she has all the elegance and grace of an Eon.

That is, when she's not bouncing around like a lunatic. Eventually, her laughing parents tell us to take our fangirling outside before we break anything. (same)

As all her friends and family arrive, I have to leave for my training. This reporting-half-an-hour-early thing is starting to get old, especially because of my training partner. Jet has still spent most of every training session staring stupidly. Although it makes him a lot easier to beat, it's still really annoying. I don't know what his problem is, but I wish he would just leave me alone.

On my way to the training grounds, I stop at the top of the cliff and survey the view. I can see Cirrus' glittering white form, smaller than a Joltik from my vantage point. I don't, however, see Jet. He must be late.

As if on cue, I hear a twig snap behind me. Whirling around, I see none other than the obnoxious Vaporeon approaching. That same stupid expression briefly crosses his face, but he appears to shake it away, and it's replaced by a more mischievous one.

Jet slinks up beside me, weasel-like, at the edge of the cliff. "Heyy," he says. I lean slightly away from him and give him a weird look.

He doesn't seem to notice. "Beautiful view," he remarks. I nod.

"Even Cirrus could pass for attractive from up here." I snort.

Jet turns to meet my eyes. "But the view isn't the only beautiful thing up here, is it?"

I snort again. "What is it that makes me think you're talking about yourself."

He turns back to face the view again. "Actually no," he says softly. "I wasn't."

Before I have time to contemplate this, the rock we're standing on shakes slightly. I jump, turning my eyes to the training grounds. Cirrus fires another ice beam, and the rock shakes again. Even though we'd be too far away to hear him if he spoke, the message is clear. Get your lazy butts down here.

I roll my eyes and start down the hill, stopping suddenly when I reach a vertical drop that definitely wasn't there yesterday. The soil must have shifted in the last rainstorm, or maybe Cirrus put it there just to challenge us.

I'm about to call up an ice bridge when Jet leaps in front of me. "Allow me," he says in a drippy, suck-up-y voice. He summons a powerful jet of water at the bottom of the hill, which shoots up towards us, ending at the top of the drop-off.

"Like this," he says, and steps into the stream.

At first it appears to work. Instead of falling, he drifts gently down the inverted waterfall, gravity barely overcoming the force of the water. Despite this, I don't get in. Jet isn't as bad as he was in his first practice, but he still struggles with his powers, and when he fails, he does so spectacularly.

Sure enough, he seems to get overconfident, and when he loses focus, the water pressure changes drastically. Suddenly twice as powerful, the spout sends Jet flying into the air, way above the safety of his water.

Feeling sick, I turn my head and watch as he soars in a perfect arc up into the sky, then back down towards the ground. There's no way he'll be able to use some water trick to catch himself in time. In a panic, I hastily summon a thick layer of snow at the bottom of the hill. Jet may be annoying, but I don't want him to get killed trying to impress me.

When he lands with a muffled thump and sinks into the snow, I hurriedly form an ice bridge and slide down it to see if he's alright. Cirrus beats me to it and is helping up a groaning Jet when I arrive. The former gives me a nod of acknowledgement for my quick thinking. I breathe a sigh of relief. Jet's going to be very sore for a few days, but at least he's okay.

Since Jet's injuries prove to be minor, Cirrus goes ahead with today's training.

He makes sure to emphasize the importance of concentration when using your powers.